Arcana Twilight: When The Star Falls (retelling)

22- A scale for thought

A loud roar was heard from outside, startling Gloria as she was walking through the halls since her classes just ended. Her eyes instantly looked out the window, seeing beasts flying in the air, making her eyes widened.

"DRAGONS!?"

Her eyes widened in excitement but mainly confusion. Dragons were one, no, the favorite mythical creature to Gloria. The concept of them back on Mid Earthiem was so fascinating to her, along with the fact she thought they were beautiful and cool. For a moment, it shocked her seeing dragons in the sky, but considering this world is full of magic and void monsters.... That shock of knowing they exist turned into a shock of how she never noticed.

Gloria walked closer to the window to watch the dragons in the sky, they seemed to have something on their backs as they were flying and soaring in the sky. They came in different shapes, colors, styles, each one looking magnificent to her.

"You seem very focused on what's out the window."

The sudden voice of Spica caught her off guard a bit. Spica looks out the window as well, "What were you looking at?" Gloria points at the dragons in the sky, "I didn't know dragons exist in this world." Spica nods, "Indeed. They are very common all over Arlyn Bounds, in fact different boundaries have different species best suited for those areas." Gloria's eyes widened in excitement, "So... those dragons? I have never seen them before! I know that the beast back in the tower when I came here looked somewhat like a dragon... but that was weird to look at and to process what it was to the point it also didn't look like a dragon..."

"That's because these dragons belong to either the college or to their riders for sports." Gloria's eyes widened more, "Sports? Like Dragon riding sports?!" Spica nods, "It ranges from races, to aerial performances, and even Zephyhurl."

And with that new word, Gloria's head tilted.

"Zephyhurl is an aerial sport where riders try to get a ball into their opponent's goal, a hoop in the air. There are gems moving around in the air, and if the riders are able to pass through them, and get the ball into the hoop, they score more points for their team. It can be dangerous, much of any sport however, and it's difficult to get players for it since dragons prefer to only choose their riders instead of the riders choose them."

Spica couldn't help but smile at Gloria, she seems highly interested in the dragons. He chuckled, "Would you like to meet the dragons?" She perked up more, "Eh!?" Spica nods, "I am familiar with the coach, they have done business with my family since my family is known for their work with animals, including mythical creatures." Gloria happily nods, "Please! I always wanted to pet a dragon! Heck I used to do so much research on them as a kid, though they are considered mythical due to being myths."

He tilts his head, encouraging her to follow him outside.

Walking up to the field where all the dragons were felt exciting. She saw a lot of them resting under trees, while others were running to take flight.

There was a person standing in the middle of the field calling out to the students helping with the dragons. "Careful with the reins! Make sure they get water! Too tight on that saddle!" They had short orange hair with white highlights in their hair.

Spica spoke up, "Eltanin." The person turned around and smiled, "Ah! Spica! Good to see you! Did you come to check on the dragons again?" Spica nods, "That and I'd like you to meet someone." Eltanin's eyes shift to Gloria, "OH! Who do we have here~?"

"This is Gloria, the Summoner as you know of, she has a fascination for dragons, so I decided to bring her to get more familiar with them."

Eltanin smiled wide, "Nice! I'm Eltanin, the Third Sorcerer of Drago! You probably can guess, but I am the coach, and knowledgeable on all things scaly if I do say so myself~!" Gloria dips her head respectfully, "Nice to meet you." Eltanin chuckled and turned to Spica, "She got manners!"

Gloria looks up, "Umm... if I may ask... may I get a closer look at a dragon?" Eltanin nods, "Why of course!" They soon put their fingers in their mouth and start to let out a loud whistle.

Soon a dragon came out from the trees, it was a dragon that stood at 7ft, with beautiful red shimmering scales. Its wings were of a gradient to white. The dragon walked up to Eltanin, letting them press their forehead to the dragon's forehead in an affectionate greeting. They then turned to Gloria, "This is Ddraig. He is a dragon that I have raised since he was an egg! He gets along with people, loving when they pet him." Gloria lifts her hand out to the dragon, "Hey there~!" She couldn't help but softly smile at the dragon. Ddraig sniffs her hand before he then licks it, Gloria knew that was a good sign. She instantly started to pet him. "You look cool Ddraig! You're so pretty~!" Ddraig let out a purr, which made Gloria smile wide. THEY CAN PURR!! Spica couldn't help but chuckle a bit, it was kind of a nice sight, seeing her getting along with the dragon.

Eltanin chuckles, "Aww~! I'm glad you like my buddy here. If you'd like, you can ride him!"

"Uh... I don't know how..."

"So? I can ride with you, or Spica can!" Gloria was shocked with the request, not knowing how to answer. Spica spoke up, "It's not a bad idea, you'd like it Gloria. Eltanin and I are skilled with a saddle." Gloria shook her head, "N... no thank you... the last creature I rode on, I ended up in slight pain and almost falling off." Spica looked concerned, "I can assure you that you wouldn't have to worry about that." Eltanin nodded, "It's alright Gloria, you don't have to, however, you can at least go on top of Ddraig, no flying or moving."

At that, Ddraig laid down on the ground, allowing Gloria to hop on if she wanted. She nervously got on the dragon, holding onto the saddle.

This felt... weird a bit.

Never has she expected to be able to be on a creature only known in fairytales!

"So dragons fascinate you, huh?" Eltanin asked. Gloria nods, "Yeah... I always read a lot about them growing up. I loved every media with dragons too!" Spica nods, "They are amazing creatures indeed, it's no doubt they are liked by many."

"How would you like to see more dragons?"

Gloria happily nods at that.

The three start making their way to the stables where all the dragons are kept, which isn't far from where they were.

There were more dragons in the stables, eating, sleeping, just relaxing. Gloria happily walked up to each stable to look at each dragon happily.

Noises were heard up ahead, a stable door was open as some students ran out of it, "COACH ELTANIN! WE NEED YOU!" The noises had startled Gloria a bit.

Eltanin runs over, "Easy there! Easy!" Gloria tilts her head at the commotion. Spica quietly spoke, "There is a dragon that refuses to let anyone near her. She is known to almost attack students..."

"Then... why let people be around the dragon?" Spica shrugs, "Eltanin wants to find someone to take in the dragon... They desperately want to or else who knows what may happen to the dragon. To make it more stressful, Eltanin can't figure out why the dragon acts the way she does, which isn't normal since Eltanin is really good with them."

Gloria looks at the stable, she can hear roars from in it.

Her legs start to carry her to the stable. Spica's eyes widened, "Gloria! Wait!"

She goes up to the stable door, she sees the dragon in question rearing up as Eltanin is trying to calm her down but was failing. The dragon was a silver beast, smaller than Ddraig. There was pale blue of a gradient on her wings, and her horns were darker than the rest of her body. The dragon's tail also had fur at the end of it. Gloria's eyes widened as she saw the dragon, she thought the dragon was beautiful.